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Pedal Buying Guide

Pedal Guide

What type of pedals do I need?

Bike pedals are an essential upgrade on every bike. Road bike pedals are the first upgrade for every dedicated roadie. Mountain bike pedals are also an essential component and mounting bikers can choose between MTB clipless and flat pedals depending on the type of riding (clips for racing and flats for fun – as well as personal preference).

There are essentially two main types of pedals. Flat pedals – traditional style where your foot simply rests on the pedal. Clipless pedals – SPD or SPD-SL style that require cleats and shoes to clip in to the pedal.

Flat Pedals

Platform Pedals

These are designed for mountain bike and BMX riding. Platform pedals offer good foot support. Pins grip the sole of your shoe to keep your foot in place while still giving you the freedom to take your foot off whenever you like. They can be made of plastic resin or metal for greater durability. These are particularly good for control when you're riding off-road on tricky terrain. The main advantage of flat pedals is you aren't attached to your bike, so can get your foot down quickly.

Cage Pedals

Traditional cycling pedals that are still very popular on hybrid and touring bikes. Cage pedals are a type of flat pedal that has a metal cage around the central spindle. Because cage pedals have less material than platform pedals, they tend to be lighter. They are often found on city or hybrid bikes as they don't offer as much grip for off-road riding as platform pedals, due to their smaller surface area. Some caged pedals come with toe clips or straps to fasten around your foot for greater efficiency.

Three bolt cleats have a much larger surface area than two-bolt MTB clipless pedals, which means there is better power transfer for efficiency and speed on the road.

The drawback is that the way the cleats fit to the sole of the shoe makes it hard to walk. There are several brands of three-bolt road shoes and each will the right type of cleat fitted to your shoe. However, they all fit to three-bolt road shoes.

Clipless MTB

Designed for mountain bikes these pedals will keep your foot in place over rough ground. They are easy to clip in and out of. The small cleat SPD style cleat is attached to your shoe with two bolts. Pedals that use the two-bolt cleat system are commonly called SPD pedals, after Shimano SPD, the primary brand for this system.

Clipless MTB pedals let you connect your shoes to them, for greater power and control.

Although they are traditionally off-road pedals, they are very popular for leisure and commuter riding, as they are easier to use and to walk in than road clipless pedals.

Most clipless mtb pedals are Shimano SPD, or are compatible with them, such as Ritchey and Wellgo. However, there are several brands that make pedals and cleats that are only compatible within that brand, such as Crank Bros, MKS, Time Atac and Look Quartz.

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